Archdiocesan Catholics
offer prayers, money

By Michelle Martin
Staff writer

As images of flood and hurricane-devastated homes poured into Chicago area homes in the wake of Katrina, area Catholics opened their doors and their pocketbooks for those in need of help.

Cardinal George, who holds a doctorate from Tulane University in New Orleans and taught there and in Mississippi, said his heart goes out to those affected by the storm.

“We pray particularly that the Lord might bring comfort to those who have lost family in this terrible tragedy,” the cardinal said in a statement.

Parishes across the archdiocese took up special collections for hurricane victims the weekend of Sept. 3-4, and more collections were planned for coming weeks, according to archdiocesan officials and pastors. Proceeds were earmarked for Catholic Charities USA’s hurricane relief fund.

The cardinal also asked all Catholic elementary and high schools to welcome students displaced by the hurricane, waiving tuition fees and and allowing children to begin classes while their registration paperwork was being completed.

Other Catholic school students already have begun contributing to relief efforts in a variety of ways.

“I have no doubt that our Catholic schools and parishes will continue to respond to the suffering of our sisters and brothers in the South in their own unique and creative ways, and I encourage all their kind efforts to extend the Lord’s comfort to those who need it now so much,” the cardinal said.



Parishes and elementary schools

u Members of St. Agnes of Bohemia Parish in Little Village have decided to send all proceeds from the third annual “La Villita” 5K walk and run Sept. 11 to Hurricane relief efforts. The event, co-sponsored by the parish and the Little Village Chamber of Commerce, takes place before the “Largest Mexican Independence Parade in Chicago” on 26th Street,

Cost is $12 for adults, $10 for children and $30 for families. To pre-register, visit www.Stagnesofbohemia.org. For information, call (773) 522-0142.

u Holy Family Parish in Inverness took up a free-will offering at a Sept. 5 John Michael Talbot concert.

Holy Family Academy, in the meantime, was working with the public schools in Houston to provide financial assistance to the children and families relocated there.

The Inverness school’s principal, Gretchen Ludwig, found out that the school district there intends to open three closed buildings to accommodate displaced children and create a fund that will follow the children as they move to longer-term housing.

When she explained the need to her 170 kindergarten through fourth-grade students, they wanted to jump in immediately, she said.

“One little boy said he wanted to give everything he had,” she said.

Since the school is working to teach children to be “the hands and feet of Jesus,” this seemed a natural effort. In addition to collecting money, the schoolchildren will write letters to the children who have been moved to Houston.

“We want them to learn how to give lovingly, sacrificially, as Christ would,” she said. “And with the letters, I hope we can give encouragement and hope.”

u In a school where uniforms are the order of the day, students at Our Lady of Humility School in Beach Park decided to charge a $1 donation to wear jeans to school on Sept. 2.

Many donated more. One fifth grade class of 26 students, for example, collected $200. In all, the school’s efforts raised over $1,200. The money will go to the American Red Cross.

u Holy Name Cathedral and Fourth Presbyterian Church are working with America’s Second Harvest to collect items for people who have been displaced. The church will accept disposable diapers in all sizes, peanut butter (no glass jars) and granola bars, cereal bars and toaster pastries (without chocolate). Trucks will be in the courtyard, 735 N. State St., from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m,. Sept. 11.



High schools

u By Sept. 2, two young women who had to leave their Louisiana homes because of Hurricane Katrina had contacted St. Scholastica Academy, an all-girls’ Benedictine high school on the North Side of Chicago.

The school will admit them tuition-free.

u Beginning with the first home football game on Sept. 2, the students, faculty and staff of Notre Dame High School for Boys in Niles conducted a Spirit Beads Fundraiser to support the relief efforts. A donation of at least $1 gets a strand of Mardi Gras beads to wear in support of the people of New Orleans, as well as the entire Gulf Coast.

All proceeds were to go to the McCormick Tribune Foundation’s hurricane relief fund, which pledged to match 50 cents of every dollar raised up to $1 million.

“Mardi Gras is an important tradition not only in New Orleans, but also in devastated areas such as Biloxi and Mobile,” history teacher and chief organizer Tim Jarotkiewicz said.

u Marian Catholic in Chicago Heights has donated water and cash for Gulf coast relief, in conjunction with Pepsi, Sodexho and a distributor close to the disaster area.



Colleges

u Benedictine University in Lisle will accept students displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The students will pay what they would have paid to their temporarily closed schools; that tuition will be forwarded to the closed schools so that they will continue to have a cash flow as they work to reopen. If the students have already paid tuition to their own schools, that commitment will be honored.

u Loyola University Chicago opened its doors to students from New Orleans and asked its alumni do the same. The school announced it would accept students from Loyola New Orleans and Tulane University as visiting students, providing housing and tuition.

“We will be utilizing all of our on-campus housing to room students, and anticipate there may be off-campus housing needs,” said an e-mail to members of Loyola’s alumni association. “We are looking for Chicago-area alumni to join Loyola faculty and staff who are willing to open their homes in providing residence to these students for some period of time while they make other arrangements for more permanent housing.”